


A Goblet, a Pipe, and a Bag of Pearls: Part Two

by Bofur1



Series: BofurGlóinNori [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Gen, well here it is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-14
Updated: 2013-12-18
Packaged: 2017-12-15 00:01:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/842951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Bofur1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And the story of Bofur, Glóin, and Nori continues! :D</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Short Interlude

**Author's Note:**

> And now the conclusion...

Kíli and Fíli gaped at Nori. There was a moment of astonished silence, and then they shouted in unison: “You stole Glóin’s—”

Nori nodded. “Aye, that I did.” He grinned and winked at Glóin, who was frowning slightly.

“There was an awful lot of my good money in there,” he sighed. “I was rather devastated.”

Bofur nodded somberly. “I couldn’t calm ye down fer th’ longest o’ times. But it was then that it got real interestin’. Now we both ’ad a pers’nal vendetta fer ol’ Nori here, and we wouldn’t rest until th’ vendettas were done an’ over.”

“Did you beat each other up any more?” Kíli asked eagerly. “Did anyone get a black eye?”

Bofur laughed. “You’ll have to see as th’ tale goes along, laddie. Although, in that first fight, by th’ time Nori was done with me I _did_ have a pretty nice shiner. Took almost a week an’ a half fer it to fade.”

“Goody,” Kíli laughed sinisterly, rubbing his hands together.

“What happened after you stole the wallet, Nori?” Fíli asked.

“Well,” Nori said, taking on a grumpy expression. “I still had Dori’s list to take care of. So Ori and I went off to do it, when I suddenly ran into someone else I didn’t want to meet.”

“Who was it?” Kíli demanded.

“I’ll give you one guess,” Nori answered, leaning back placidly.

Fíli’s eyes went wide. “Oh! Dwalin!”

“What?” came a gruff voice.

Nori shifted slightly to look over at the looming figure in the doorway. “Ah,” he said, and his voice turned sly. “Hello, Dwwaaalliinnn.” He let the name roll off his tongue, and then added, “You’re just in time to hear about the fight you and I had a long time ago.”

A growl rose in Dwalin’s throat. “I’m not sure I want to.”

“Oh, yes, you’ll want to,” Nori snickered. “Remember, that was the time Ori beat you.” Dwalin grimaced, and Nori laughed again. “Ah, you remember! That’s a good thing; wouldn’t want you to get soft or anything.”

“You—” Dwalin snarled. Only for the sake of Fíli and Kíli did he decide not to wring Nori’s neck. At least not yet.

The Durin heirs looked shocked. “You and Dwalin got in another fight?!” Fíli gasped, at the same time Kíli cried, “How did Ori beat Dwalin?!”

“And then ye rememb’r what happened?” Bofur asked Nori in a low voice. Nori’s grin disappeared.

“I was...scared,” he said slowly. “Half to death.”

“Aye,” Glóin said, nodding.

“Well, tell us, then!” Kíli shouted impatiently.

Fíli, Kíli, and even Dwalin listened as the trio began what would be the rest of their tale.


	2. Nabbed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori simply can't get a break.

“What’cha doin’, No’i?”

“Hm?” Nori looked up, somewhat startled. He’d been running his fingers over the thick wallet he’d snitched from that Glóin, when suddenly his brother Ori had cut into his train of thought. “Oh, nothing, Or’. Just thinking about...things.”

“Oh,” Ori said, swinging his legs from where he sat on a merchant’s table. After a moment he added, “I’m hungry, No’i. Can we get somethin’?” Ori asked hopefully. “Chips?”

Nori gave a shrug. “Why not? Anything to forget about Dori’s trash,” he added in an undertone, jamming the wallet in one pocket and Dori’s list in the other. He scooped up his brother once again and they began a pursuit of food.

“I don’t think they sell chips in this market, Ori,” Nori sighed after a while of searching.

“Yes, they do!” Ori replied stubbornly. “They sell everything. Please, can we look a _little_ longer?”

“Oh, alright,” Nori said, with a small smile. He knew he could never resist little Ori and all his requests. “We’ll probably have to double back the way we came—”

“You’re not going anywhere,” growled a voice, and a large hand clamped onto Nori’s shoulder. Nori froze, and stiffened.

“Hello, Dwalin,” Nori said uncomfortably, without turning. In his mind Nori was using every foul curse ever added to his vocabulary. He’d thought that Dwalin wasn’t on watch! He hadn’t seen him at his post; Dwalin must have been hiding, lying in wait.

“Put down the lad and turn around,” Dwalin ordered. Nori did so very slowly. He knew when he was caught. As he turned Dwalin shackled his wrists, blathering on about rights to remain silent.

Ori’s trembling voice came from behind. “No’i? What...”

“It’s...it’s alright, lad!” Nori called back as Dwalin began to march him away. “I’ll be back soon, I promise! Try to find Dori! Tell him what—” A sharp jab from Dwalin caused Nori to yelp. As a bruise started to form Nori ground out, “You’re a cold one, Dwalin. Arrest me in front of the boy?”

“I do what I have to,” Dwalin answered flatly.

“So do I,” Nori snarled, and snaked one of his feet between Dwalin’s, locking it around the guard’s ankle and upending him. Dwalin landed hard, and Nori made a break for it.

Dwalin screamed a word that gave even the merchants pause as he leapt back to his feet and stampeded after the thief.

 _Here we go again_ , Nori sighed mentally, shoving his way past bystanders. The shackles around his wrists made it difficult, for they caught on edges of tables or clothing or wrapped around limbs.

All of a sudden Ori appeared before him, shouting his name. “Ori, get out of here!” Nori hissed. It was then that he had an idea. “Wait, never mind, stay here. When that big Dwarf comes, if he asks where I am, say you don’t know, alright? Please, Ori?”

Ori nodded hesitantly, and Nori disappeared. Dwalin soon approached, and he frowned suspiciously down at the innocent-looking child that Nori had been with.

“Alright, lad, where is he?” he demanded.

Ori shrugged his thin shoulders. “I dunno.”

Dwalin crossed his arms. “You know that Nori is a thief, don’t you? He’s done some pretty bad things and needs to pay for them. Just tell me where he is.”

For the second time that week, Nori’s boot connected with Dwalin’s head. This time, however, there was much more force behind it, for Nori had launched himself off a table and snapped a high kick through the air. Dwalin landed flat on his back, in a daze.

Nori swiped the ring of keys from Dwalin’s belt and undid his shackles. He was about to throw them away when he had a better idea. “This’ll teach you, Dwalin,” Nori snickered under his breath as he chained the guard’s wrists to a heavy crate. “Well, Ori, we did it. You were very—” As he turned, Nori felt his blood go cold. In his brother’s place was a scroll, lying on the ground.

With shaking hands, Nori unrolled it. His eyes went wide, and his pulse sped up as he realized that Bofur and Glóin were a lot bitterer than he’d believed.

_If you give us what we want, we’ll give you what you want._


	3. Captive and Captor

“Per’aps we shouldn’t have done it, Glóin,” Bofur said for the fifth time. He was pacing restively through Glóin’s house, gnawing on his lower lip as he fussed.

“Listen, it’s not like we’re going to beat the kid,” Glóin replied impatiently. “He’s in my room _eating_ _leftover chips_. We haven’t even tied him up or gagged him!”

“But what’s goin’ to happen when yer Ama and brother get back and find ’im?!” Bofur cried agitatedly. “Or what if M—er, _Nori_ —finds us somehow? He’ll know who we are and send me home with more bruises and likely a few broken bones! Maybe more! What’ll I tell m’ family?!”

“Bofur, you aren’t thinking straight. Don’t you remember? We _want_ Nori to find us! I doubt he’ll save the pearls and wallet with his brother at stake,” Glóin tried to reason with him. “Just like we said in the note: he gives us what we want, we’ll give him what he wants.”

“It just don’t seem right.”

“You’re delirious from food depravation. I’ll get something on,” Glóin replied flatly, standing and making his way to the kitchen. Bofur gulped, and pivoted in the opposite direction. He had to go see the lad. If he was scared, Bofur would reassure him. It was likely the only way he could make up for this.

When Bofur opened the door, the Dwarfling was sitting on Óin’s bed, the pile of chips before him slowly shrinking. “Hello,” Bofur said hesitantly, and the lad jumped.

“You’re th’ one who tried to beat up No’i!” he cried, face white.

 _So much fer reassurin’_ , Bofur thought to himself. “Listen, I wanted t’ talk to ye ’bout that...”

“I don’t wanna talk,” Ori declared. He bit his lip, staring at the bedspread.

A long while passed in silence, and then Bofur announced, “D’ye know, lad, I have a little brother of m’ own.”

Ori looked up. “You do?” he said cautiously.

“Yep. His name is Bombur.”

“Where is he?”

“Oh,” Bofur said, relieved that he was actually getting some reception from the boy. “He’s at home; likely makin’ some mischief fer our cousin Bifur.”

“Mischief,” Ori repeated, wrinkling his nose. “That’s what my brother Dori says when I jump in puddles, or run around in the garden.”

Bofur laughed amiably. “M’ Bombur does that sort o’ stuff too.” After a moment he said suddenly, “D’ye want t’ do somethin’?”

“Like what?” Ori asked, interested.

“Well, what d’ye like t’ do?”

“Draw,” the lad replied promptly.

“Ah, yes!” Bofur said, pleased. “Well, then, let me find one o’ Óin’s blank books. I’m sure he won’t mind if ye use it only a bit.”

Once Bofur gave Ori the book and a wet quill, the Dwarfling didn’t only use it a bit. The first pages were soon riddled with drawings and wobbly words that apparently made perfect sense to Ori but were gibberish to Bofur.

Bofur leaned in. “What’s that say?” he asked curiously, pointing to a word that was still drying.

Ori pulled the book away from him. “Nothin’,” he said, flushing. But after a moment he blurted, “That says ‘Dori’. See?” He showed Bofur a sketch of a young Dwarf adult sitting in a chair, knitting a long scarf.

“That’s yer brother?”

“Yeh. And that’s me,” Ori added proudly, pointing to the Dwarfling sitting at the adult’s feet. Ori paused, thinking, and then handed the book to Bofur. “Will you draw your brother for me?”

Bofur beamed with pride. “Sure!”

Soon Ori was enjoying himself enough that he didn’t mind Bofur settling down right next to him. By the time Glóin peeked in, the two were talking animatedly and joking, like they’d been friends all their lives.

 _Oh_ , Glóin thought uneasily. _Nori isn’t going to like that. Not at all_.


	4. Under the Brute's Watch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dori's wall of control self-destructs, and Nori cries for the first time since this awful week began.

“And you lost him?!” Dori shouted, face flushed scarlet.

“I didn’t lose him!” Nori barked. “He was abducted!”

“Under _your_ watch!”

“As if I haven’t told you that I was busy at the moment!” Nori snarled. “You think I have eyes in the back of my head? If I’d been arrested I still wouldn’t have been there to protect Ori and it would’ve happened anyway!”

“If you’d been doing what I told you to, you might have finished and gotten out of there before Dwalin caught you!” Dori roared.

“ _Mahalu-me turg!_ ” Nori growled. “Maybe I should have _let_ myself get jailed so I wouldn’t have to listen to your squawking!”

Nori suddenly found himself on the ground, his nose spewing blood. “You wretched, despicable brute!” Dori screamed. “You good-for-nothing! There’s never before been a Dwarf that’s so _worthless_!”

Nori curled into himself and pressed his eyes closed. He’d never seen Dori this livid. Nori couldn’t suppress an infinitesimal shudder as Dori continued to rant about his hopelessness.

“I’ve tried and tried to work with you but you never learn, Nori! Or maybe it’s I who won’t learn. Well, I know now. You’ll always be dishonorable. You’ll always be a shame to us!”

Nori sat up then, causing Dori to fall silent. Nori looked at his elder brother for a long time, hoping his sadness didn’t show in his eyes. At last Nori stood, and removed a handkerchief from his belt. Dori waited for a response to his words, but Nori remained mute. He wiped his nose and strode from the house, not bothering to close the door behind him.

Dori’s words stabbed deep, deeper than his brother would ever know. Now as he trudged to nowhere Nori was in denial as he spoke to himself: _You’re fine, Nori. Really, you’re fine. Just fine_...

Nori knew he wasn’t fine in the least. A burning sensation had locked into his throat, and he could feel moisture gathering in the corners of his eyes. Something was clawing at the inside of his stomach, and the path he walked was blurring.

“Don’t be a sissy,” he murmured, but his voice broke on the last word, and he dropped where he was on the ground, bursting almost silently into tears.

Dori’s jabs usually didn’t affect him in this way. He usually was able to swallow his hurt and shove it away. But Dori had said ‘good-for-nothing’ and ‘worthless’. Those were the greatest insults to a Dwarf. Call a Dwarf ‘cowardly’ and you might get an insult back. Call him ‘greedy’, you might get a hit to the jaw and a stolen purse. ‘Violent’, and you might see just how violent he really is.

But ‘good-for-nothing’? ‘ _Worthless’_?

Perhaps it was the knowledge that he really hadn’t been keeping an eye on Ori when he should have been that made the words so painful. It felt to Nori as if he’d been beaten, disowned, and then thrown out to live in a wilderness of wargs and trolls.

“It’s not all that bad,” he whimpered to himself as he lay there. “If you find Ori, if you bring him back safe, Dori will accept you again.”

Why did he want Dori to accept him? Dori was simply a fastidious bully who...was his brother. His brother who bailed him out of jail time and again. His brother who took the time to make up an extra plate of food that waited for him into the late hours. His brother who, right now, was just worried about Ori and didn’t really mean what he had said.

Nori wiped his eyes as he rose to his feet. He would go back to that thrice-cursed market. Ask around; describe Bofur and Glóin; listen to every conversation. But first, he had to come with a great disguise. Not even clever Dwalin would be able to recognize him. Then, Nori would find Bofur and Glóin. Where they went, he would go. He would hunt them down, and get Ori back.

And maybe he’d be able to do it without giving up his booty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mahalu-me turg! = Mahal's beard!


	5. Regrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's panic when Glóin hears someone at the door, and then he and Bofur truly wonder at what they've done.

Glóin heard a knock at the front door. Startled, he set his book aside and stood. Bofur streaked into the living room and was suddenly beside him.

“Who’s that?” Bofur yelped. “Yer ama an’ brother?!”

“Hush!”  Glóin hissed. “Do you want them to hear you?” Bofur shut his mouth with a snap, and shook his head. “That’s better. Now keep an eye on the kid. I’ll see who’s at the door.”

Bofur nodded, and disappeared once again. Glóin cautiously moved the edge of the curtains on the front window, and bit back a gasp. It was Dori at the door! Had Nori told him what had happened and he’d somehow figured out where they lived? If Nori hadn’t told him, how on earth had Dori figured out where to come?! Glóin gave a short curse as he remembered their meeting in the market. He’d told Dori that he lived on the outskirts of town!

Glóin promptly decided that never would he open his door to one of the Ri brothers. Therefore he moved silently back to his chair and picked up his book. He cringed as the banging continued.

“Hello? Anyone there?”

Suddenly Glóin heard a scuffling and a sliding, and then their captive burst from the hallway. Before Glóin could stop him Ori was running toward the door crying “Dori, Dori!!” Then two long arms snaked out and wrapped around Ori’s midsection, yanking him back. Ori disappeared from view, and his calling was muffled.

“Shh, shh,” Glóin heard Bofur’s voice. “We don’t know if that’s yer brother or not. It could be someone dangerous.”

“That’s Dori’s voice!” Ori protested.

“Someone could be fakin’ it to sound like ’im,” Bofur replied seriously.

There was a long pause. “But...it sounds just like him,” Ori whispered, on the verge of tears.

“I know. But I don’t think it is.”

After a few more moments the knocking ceased entirely and Bofur released Ori, who slunk to the window and stood on tiptoe, peering through the curtains. He saw no one. With a doleful sigh Ori shuffled back toward Óin’s room. Bofur approached Glóin.

“Who was it? Was it that Dori fella?” Bofur asked anxiously in a whisper.

“Aye,” Glóin replied in a soft voice. “I remembered that I told him where I lived in case he heard anything about our thief. I didn’t know it was his brother at the time. I think Dori came here wondering if I’d seen Ori about.”

“Ooh, s’not good,” Bofur fretted. “If he tells the lawmen ’bout his missin’ brother—which ye know he will—it won’t just be Nori who’s searchin’ fer him!”

“Nori’s a fugitive,” Glóin reminded him. “He doesn’t want Ori to be found by the lawmen. He’ll do everything he can to get to him first. That’s good for us.”

Bofur massaged his temples. “Glóin...per’aps m’ family an’ I can get along without the pearls. Why don’t I just let ’em go?”

“What about the medicine for your mother?” Glóin asked, surprised.

Bofur paused. “If m’ ama gets better, an’ she finds out what I did...she’ll be real disappointed in me. An’ Bombur won’t trust me. An’ Bifur’ll be furious. An’ let me tell ye, if my adad were alive, if he knew what we’re doin’, I’d have been facin’ our Maker Mahal long ago!”

Glóin sighed and sank down in his chair. “It _is_ getting out of hand. Maybe you’re right.”

“But now we have this kid, and Nori’s comin’ fer us,” Bofur agonized. “ _Glóin_. What’re we goin’ t’ do?!”


	6. What We Can Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori and a friend work on the perfect disguise.

Nori crouched behind a pile of crates in the back alley of a small market cloth shop. He had his wide eyes fixed on the passing platoon of guardsman. He had heard them chatting, but the voice louder than the rest was what had caused him to bolt into the shadows.

“You really can’t catch this feller, can you, Dwal’?” snickered one of them.

“I’ll get him eventually,” growled that old familiar voice.

“That’s a nice bruise you have,” declared another.

“It’s _nothing_ ,” Dwalin said through clenched teeth, “compared to what I’m going to do to Nori when I find him!” The rest of Dwalin’s threats were lost to Nori as the guards disappeared into the night.

When he was certain the area was clear of danger Nori leapt silently onto the crates and stretched to reach the window of the apartment above the shop. He tapped out a complicated code on the pane, and then waited. His friend Tanar, the owner of the shop, soon opened the window and peered down. Nori could see Tanar’s luminous green eyes crinkle a bit in a sly grin.

 “Why, ’ullo there, good sir. Cum t’ buy sum cloth, ’ave ye?” He knew exactly who was standing below him and was glad to see him after a month of no word.

“Need it for my baby brother,” Nori replied in a low tone. “Let me up.”

Tanar held down a hand, and Nori was soon standing in Tanar’s rich apartment. “So, ’ow ken I assist me good chum t’night?” Tanar asked, for he knew Nori had come for a favor.

“You’re good with dye, aren’t you?” Nori asked, getting right to the point. “And good with scissors?”

Tanar chuckled softly. “I own a cloth store, pal. I pride meself on me dyeing an’ cuttin’. And o’course,” he added with another generous smile, “me quick hand.”

Nori laughed too. It was no secret to him that Tanar swindled his customers. “Well, Tanar. I need you to dye and trim my hair and beard.”

Tanar’s grin slipped as his jaw dropped a few inches. “Yer...hair an’ beard?” he echoed dumbly.

“Yeh,” Nori confirmed. “I want them the darkest black you have.”

Tanar stammered, “Well, uh...I nev’r done it on a livin’ th’ng ’fore...”

Nori took a step toward him, his eyes narrowed. “You owe me a favor. _Do it_.”

Tanar considered the knife tucked into Nori’s belt, and then said cautiously, “Right this way, chum. Let’s see wot we ken do.”

Nori waited patiently as Tanar mixed some colors together to become a dark, viscous mixture. Then Nori slowly undid his hair and beard and took a deep breath. “Do your magic, Tan’.” He then felt the necessity to add, “If it looks bad, I’ll kill you.”

Tanar nodded reluctantly. “’ve heard dat ’un ’fore, mate. Just sit back, shut yer mouth, and I’ll do me best.”

As Tanar scrubbed his hair Nori realized how exhausted he was. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax despite his nervousness. The next he knew Tanar was shaking him awake.

“Oi, mate, ye were da ’un who wanted this dun. I shud git extra pay fer lettin’ ye kip while I did it. Tell me ’ow ye like it.”

Nori sat up, startled, blinking the sleep away, and then accepted the mirror Tanar handed him. He caught sight of himself and stared, positively dumbstruck. Instead of the usual glossy auburn, his hair and beard flowed inky-black.

“Ye look like a diff’ent Dwarf,” Tanar commented. Nori looked up at him with a spark in his eyes.

“Just what I wanted to hear, mate,” Nori declared, a grin spreading on his face. “Now, lemme look at what clothes you’ve got.”


	7. The Heat of His Shame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Everythin's my fault."

“If you want, you can sup with me here,” Glóin suggested. Bofur was already shaking his head.

“No, no, no, no, no. I’m gettin’ out o’ here before m’ guilt drives me barmy,” Bofur sighed, flinging open the door and striding down the front steps.

Everything had gotten so complicated. And it had all started with that bag of pearls. Bofur gingerly touched the bone in his chest and grimaced. Though his remaining bruises would heal, Bofur wasn’t sure his conscience would.

Bofur grit his teeth and quickened his pace. It had been quite a day, and he hoped Bombur wasn’t worried about him. Perhaps Bifur had been a companion to Bombur these long hours. This notion comforted him, until he thought that if Bifur _had_ stayed, there would surely be questions about his brawl with Nori. That very nearly sent Bofur back the way he’d come, but he forced himself to continue. He didn’t care anymore. All he wanted was to get home, eat supper, hug his brother, fall into bed and sleep.

If he and Glóin simply gave Ori back to Nori and let him keep everything, would he leave them alone? Bofur instantly rejected that hope. Nori was a thief, just like him. Thieves held grudges. Bofur realized then that it hadn’t started with the pearls—it had started with his own grudge.

“So everythin’s m’ fault,” Bofur mumbled miserably. He sighed heavily. It felt as though he were carrying two bags of rocks on each of his shoulders.

As he approached his home Bofur saw lights in the window. He slowed, and hesitated. Staying low to the ground, he crept to the window and peered in. His heart ached as he saw Bombur sitting on Bifur’s knee.

“Where’s Bofur?” Bombur asked sadly.

Bifur put his arms around Bombur and said gravely, “I don’t know. But he’s a responsible lad, Bombur. He can take care of himself. Don’t you worry.”

Bombur gave a sigh and laid his head against Bifur’s chest. “I wish he’d just...stay home. I get scared, cousin Bifur. Adad’s gone, and Ama might not...live. I don’t want anything to happen to Bofur either. If something...” He choked on the words.

Bifur’s grip on Bombur tightened. “Shh, it’s alright, young one...”

Bofur couldn’t bear to see any more. He turned away, his own throat full as well. With a shuddering breath he walked a few yards away from the house and sat, hugging his knees. He couldn’t enter that house. He couldn’t bear to see the tears in his brother’s eyes.

“S’not right,” he whispered to the night. “None o’ it. I didn’t mean fer any o’ this. I just wanted t’ help Ama.” The thought that she was in there slowly withering away drained the last of his self-control. With tears slipping freely down his face Bofur stood and began walking, the heat of his shame burning his heart.


	8. So Am I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Another thief and his pal kidnapped my little brother. I plan to get him back." ___

“Wot ye up t’, mate?”

Nori barely noticed Tanar leaning over his shoulder, peering into the trunk that Nori was examining. However, he did feel Tanar tense, and then heard his uneasy words: “Oi, uh, not in dere, please.”

“What, got somethin’ buried in here, Tan’? Ooh, you do!” With a sly grin Nori pulled out five solid gold buttons, likely slipped from some unknowing bloke’s pocket.

“’Ey, give dose ’ere,” Tanar mumbled, snatching them away from him. Nori smirked.

“Heh, you always were precious about your things.”

“No, ’m precious about other people’s things,” Tanar replied easily, flipping the buttons into his own pocket.

“What’s the difference?”

“Dere in’t one.”

Nori gave a curt nod. “My thoughts exactly.” He stood, holding up a piece of clothing and eyeing it thoughtfully. “What do you think?” he asked, turning to Tanar.

Tanar’s face contorted in a horrified grimace. “Fie! That’s awful fer ye!”

Nori couldn’t help but grin. “Alright then, help me find somethin’ else.”

Tanar shook his head vigorously. “There ain’t nothin’ in dat dere chest that’ll look good on ye, mate. ’Specially not wid dat black hair o’ yers now.”

With a loud sigh Nori pivoted and bent down again. “It doesn’t matter if it _looks_ _good_ ,” he said in vexation. “All I want is something that _fits_!”

Tanar held up his hands in a passive gesture. “A’right, a’right. No need t’ git snippy, mate. I’ll help ye.” He nudged Nori over and they began comparing clothing that they found. When it was clear there was nothing that fit, Nori shoved that trunk away with a growl and started on another.

Tanar watched him thoughtfully, and then asked, “So, chum, wot d’ ye need dis stuff fer? Why’d ye wanna dye yer hair an’ beard fer?”

“A disguise,” Nori said lightly.

“Oh.”

Hearing Tanar’s dissatisfaction with his answer Nori straightened, and turned slowly, his face shadowed in bitterness. “Another thief and his pal kidnapped my little brother. I plan to get him back.”

“Oooohhh, so s’a feud den!” Tanar nodded understandingly. “Wot’d ye take from ’em?”

“Pearls. And a wallet,” Nori mused as he tucked some satisfactory clothing under his arm.

“I take it dey were angry?”

“Yeh. But then again,” Nori finished darkly, fingering the hilt of his knife, “so am I.”


	9. Nice Dwarf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glóin and Ori have a debate.

“What are you doing?!” Glóin gasped. Ori yelped in surprise, the goblet falling from his small hands toward the floor. Glóin dove forward and the goblet landed on his palm with a slap. Glóin rose slowly, glaring at the little boy.

“How’d you find this?”

Ori stammered a bit. “I...I found a key and saw tha’ chest...I thought...”

Glóin grit his teeth. His key must have fallen from the crack in his headboard. Stiffly he shoved the goblet back into the open chest that sat on his bed. Muttering about nosy little Dwarflings, he closed and locked the chest, placing it on a high shelf in his closet instead of beneath his bed.

“Don’t go through my things,” he growled at Ori, who shrank into himself and hung his head guiltily. Placated, Glóin turned to leave.

“Wait! How...how long till I can go back to No’i?” Ori blurted. “He worries about me.”

Glóin gave a sigh. “He’s going to come and pick you up sooner or later.”

“Really?” Ori cried eagerly. “Because, well, Do’i wants us home for dinner. He promised to roast some pigeons that No’i caught the other day—”

“Yeah, kid, that’s great,” Glóin interrupted, feeling slightly queasy. Bofur’s guilt had passed to him like a winter chill; he was starting to consider himself just another pigeon that Nori was going to catch and roast.

Ori pushed himself onto the bed, swinging his legs back and forth. “What can I do until he gets here?” he asked, sadly gesturing to the notebook Bofur had fetched for him earlier. “I ran out of paper.”

Glóin sighed irritably. “Just...just _sit there_. Sit there until he comes.”

“But I have to go to th’ bathroom,” Ori whined. “And I’m hungry.”

“Hold it. I gave you chips; isn’t that enough?”

Ori narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at Glóin. “D’you have kids?”

Glóin was aghast. “No! I’m not even married—I’m not even of age!”

“Okay. That explains a lot,” Ori announced.

His cheeks heating, Glóin demanded, “What do you mean?!”

Ori shrugged slowly. “Well, you just seem kinda mad and mean all the time.”

“That’s only because you’re here!” Glóin barked. “I’ll have you know I’m a _nice_ Dwarf when I don’t have to take care of annoying little children!”

“Then why don’t you let me leave?” Ori burst out.

Glóin groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Just sit there until Nori comes for you.” He turned to leave, but the lad spoke in a voice so young and fearful that it froze him to the spot.

“D’you think...d’you think he ever will?” Ori whimpered. “He’s gone a lot and sometimes it seems like he don’t like me. D’you think he’ll ever come?!”

Glóin heaved a heavy sigh. He turned slowly and approached, putting his large hands on Ori’s undersized shoulders.

“Listen here, lad. If I have learned anything by having an older brother, it’s that if you get in trouble they’ll never get off your back until they’re sure you’re alright.”

“So...?”

“Yes,” Glóin concluded firmly. “He’ll come. Now just stop worrying.”

In response, Ori gave a doleful sigh and hung his head.


End file.
